Brussels, 9 February 2023
Press release
LightingEurope welcomes the text adopted today by the European Parliament’s Industry Research and Energy (ITRE) Committee on the revision of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD).
It mandates the use of automatic lighting controls in non-residential buildings where technically and economically feasible. “All building renovations must include an upgrading of the lighting installations. LED-based lighting systems can help us save up to 29 TWh/y of electricity by 2030 and up to 56 TWh/y by 2050. Mandating the use and optimisation of automatic lighting control systems will increase energy savings in a building, help reduce greenhouse gas emissions and enable good lighting and quality environments for people,” says Ourania Georgoutsakou, Secretary General of LightingEurope.
With people spending approximately 90 % of their time indoors, there is a growing demand for indoor comfort and wellbeing. LightingEurope welcomes that the ITRE text emphasizes the need to create safe and comfortable indoor environments for buildings’ occupants with the introduction of a definition of Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ) and concrete obligations for Member States to address IEQ. In this context again, better lighting has a central role to play. Beyond the energy savings they deliver, LED-based intelligent lighting systems will also create a more comfortable indoor environment, allowing users to dynamically adapt light to their specific needs and preferences.
Georgoutsakou concludes: “The energy, health, and economic benefits of quality lighting are clear. Today we have the technology and products to adapt the lighting to who we are (because for example, the older we get, the more bright light we need), where we are, what we are doing, the time of day and the levels of natural daylight coming in. A true renovation renaissance for Europe cannot happen without an upgrade of our lighting installations. Let’s not waste this opportunity.”
LightingEurope calls upon members of the European Parliament to back the text in plenary and for this level of ambition to be maintained throughout the upcoming negotiations with the Council. LightingEurope places its technical expertise at the disposal of the EU institutions to help shape these new measures.
For more information, please read LightingEurope’s position paper on the targeted revision of the EPBD.
Contact
For further information on this topic, please contact Ourania Georgoutsakou, Secretary General, ourania.georgoutsakou@lightingeurope.org or Marion Ebel, Senior Policy Manager,
marion.ebel@lightingeurope.org
About LightingEurope
LightingEurope is the voice of the lighting industry, based in Brussels and representing 29 companies and national associations. Together these members account for over 1,000 European companies, a majority of which are small or medium-sized. They represent a total European workforce of over 100,000 people and an annual turnover exceeding 20 billion euro. LightingEurope is committed to promoting efficient lighting that benefits human comfort, safety and wellbeing, and the environment. LightingEurope advocates a positive business and regulatory environment to foster fair competition and growth for the European lighting industry. More information is available at www.lightingeurope.org
